Arizona Diamondbacks lose out to New York Yankees on Masahiro Tanaka

At 11 p.m. Tuesday night, all Kevin Towers knew was that his team was out of the running for Japanese pitching phenom Masahiro Tanaka.

Twelve hours later, the picture had cleared up only slightly. Early Wednesday morning, the 25-year-old Tanaka had agreed to a seven-year, $155 million deal with the New York Yankees, who gave him an opt-out after the fourth year and sent a $20 million posting fee to his Japanese club.

On a conference call with reporters late Wednesday morning, Towers said he didn’t know exactly who else was in the Tanaka derby besides the Yankees. (The Dodgers, Astros and Cubs have been reported as players.) He didn’t know what other clubs had offered, or what factors ultimately led to Tanaka choosing pinstripes.

What he did know, or at least firmly believed, is that the Diamondbacks were in it until the end.

“We presented ourselves a very competitive offer and probably made it very difficult for Tanaka and his advisors making his decision to go to the Yankees,” Towers said.

After missing the playoffs for just the second time in 19 years, the Yankees went on a free-agent spending spree this offseason, also adding catcher Brian McCann and outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran. The four big deals totaled $438 million.

“We’re going to do what we’ve got to do to win,” Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner told the Associated Press. “Anybody that questioned our commitment to winning is going to have to question themselves.”

The Diamondbacks had been following Tanaka closely over his last season with the Rakuten Eagles, with whom he’d posted a 1.27 ERA in two of his past three campaigns. About three weeks ago, Towers, Managing Partner Ken Kendrick, manager Kirk Gibson and star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt had their only face-to-face meeting with Tanaka in Beverly Hills. Also in attendance was scout Rick Short, who played with Tanaka in Japan.

Towers felt the meeting went very well, and that Goldschmidt’s presence meant a lot.

“Things like that I think kept us in this thing,” Towers said. “It was kind of maybe a different approach and presentation than others.”

From there, the negotiation process operated in a bit of a vacuum. Tanaka wanted to be wooed quietly, and interested teams followed agent Casey Close’s request to keep confidentiality. Few offers were reported, and those only from Japanese news outlets.

One such offer was a reported six-year, $115 million contract from the Diamondbacks, although no team officials would confirm it. Towers wouldn’t go into specifics on his team’s final offer.

“I would imagine that the reason we stayed there until the end is because I would imagine that we were one of probably two or three clubs that they were looking at very strongly,” Towers said. “Very competitive. To go into any more details than that, I really don’t care to share.”

Towers doesn’t know what ultimately swayed Tanaka toward New York, although he has a hunch. The Yankees offer a big market, a fat wallet and a coastal city with a strong Japanese community. Already in pinstripes are two aging Japanese stars, Ichiro Suzuki and Hiroki Kuroda, who have made the jump from their home country to the majors.

Tanaka’s deal pushes the Yankees’ payroll for purposes of the luxury tax over $203 million for 20 players with agreements. Barring trades, there is little chance New York will get under the $189 million tax threshold.

The Diamondbacks’ pitch focused on Arizona’s family atmosphere, staying home for spring training, the weather and the abundance of golf courses in the Valley. (Tanaka, apparently, is a big golfer.)

The process, Towers felt, was respectful and fair.

“I don’t think there were any late, final offers,” Towers said. “Everybody’s kind of best-foot-forward was probably submitted to them probably Monday night.”

Now, the Diamondbacks have to focus on a Tanaka-less future. Towers wants a front-line, top-of-the-rotation starter but has said he likely wouldn’t go more than three years for the current crop, which includes Matt Garza and Ervin Santana.

He’ll be aggressive for the right guy, but only the right guy.

“We like our team the way it stands today,” Towers said. “We’re looking to add pitching, but not just pitching. An elite pitcher, front-line, a number one or a very good number two, and Tanaka fit the bill. That’s why we were very aggressive after him.

“My job still is to try to improve the club any way I can. That doesn’t stop just because we didn’t get Tanaka.”

Tanaka’s deal is the highest for an international free agent and the fifth-largest for a pitcher, trailing only the seven-years deals of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw ($215 million), Detroit’s Justin Verlander ($180 million), Seattle’s Felix Hernandez ($175 million) and CC Sabathia ($161 million under his original agreement with New York).

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